Inbox: Mask or Menace

[megabytes]

"You've reached the comms device of Megaman.EXE. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave a message and I will respond as soon as I am able! Thank you!"

Comments

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro hesitates for a moment. Then he reaches out to hug Megaman gently, pinging status: okay over and over again. ]

I'm okay now. And I know you're gonna keep looking out for me.

[megabytes]

[Megaman silently leans into the hug, wrapping his arms around Hiro and squeezing tight. He's okay, Hiro's okay and he has a chance to fix things. He can be better next time. He will be better next time.

He waits until there's a gap or pause in those status pings, then sends some data of his own: speaker's surrogate operator == speaker's operator, and a flurry of emotion data, worry and stress and anxiety and fond exasperation.

I swear, you're just as bad as he is.]

[microbrobotics]

[ He doesn't quite get all the nuances of that last part, given how limited his understanding of data pings are right now. But the sentiment shines through easily enough right from that equivalency statement. He laughs a little, not unkindly. ]

We can't be that bad.

[megabytes]

You're right - you're even worse. You have no idea what the two of you put me through.

[Said with the most resigned tone. He clearly can't do anything to stop their crazy, he just as to run with it and do damage control. Not that he's even remotely as upset by that as he acts; if Hiro and Lan weren't finding new ways to get in trouble or scare Megaman witless, they just wouldn't be them.]

[microbrobotics]

[ More worrying if they're not getting in trouble, right? Hiro shakes his head a little. ]

Long as we come back at the end of the day, right?

[megabytes]

[If they aren't getting into trouble then something is seriously wrong. That or they're planning something, which is an even bigger cause for concern, really.]

Yeah. Preferably intact. [He squeezes Hiro a bit.] It's a good thing navis can't have heart attacks, or you'd have killed me a dozen times over all on your own.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro opens his mouth to say something sassy back to that ... and then pauses. Heart attacks. Ah. That was why he wanted to talk to Megaman in the first place. He pauses for a moment, unsure of how to work up to this. ]

Navis can't, huh. Humans can.

[megabytes]

[Crap.

Megaman flinches, and tries to cover it up with a chuckle. Gotta stay calm, just. Pretend everything's normal. He's got this.]

As far as I know. You're the human, you tell me!

[microbrobotics]

I've never had any problems with my heart.

But you have.

[megabytes]

[OH GOD.

OH GOD NO.

QUICK, DEFLECT! DEFLECT!]

Hiro, I just said we can't. It's not physically possible.

[microbrobotics]

For a navi. Not a human.

[ He edges closer now, not letting Megaman retreat. ]

You ... you were human, weren't you?

[megabytes]

W-what?

[He still shrinks back, as much as he can. Regardless of the conversation topic, this isn't a position he likes to be in, especially with someone taller than him. He is so very not comfortable right now - he is a thousand kinds of uncomfortable.]

I-I...Hiro, I told you how I was programmed. Remember? [Not a yes, not a no.]

[microbrobotics]

[ Sorry, Megaman. He tries to give the navi at least a little space, but ... dammit, he needs to know. ]

I remember what I saw at the swear-in. Those were memories.

[megabytes]

I don't...this isn't funny, Hiro!

[microbrobotics]

I'm not joking! I just - I want to know!

[megabytes]

I don't have anything to tell you!

[microbrobotics]

I saw it! You're human, I know you are!

[megabytes]

Hiro, stop it!

[He doesn't want this to be happening. He still doesn't really know how to have this conversation, especially not like this. He doesn't know how to deal with this, he doesn't know what to do, he just wants it to stop and go back and not happen so everything can be normal again.]

[microbrobotics]

W-why is this such a hard thing to talk about? I'm right, aren't I? I know I am. I could feel you ... you ...

[ Dying, is what he wants to say, but he bites it back at the last second. ]

[megabytes]

[Hiro. You just answered your own question. ...mostly.]

I-I said stop. Please.

[microbrobotics]

Okay, I'll stop ...

But - but I know, Megaman. I can't not figure it out after all that.

[megabytes]

T-there's nothing to figure out, I don't know what...

[Still trying so very very hard to "salvage" this whole mess, even though it's painfully obvious it's a lost cause. Of course, no amount of faking in the world is gonna make Hiro magically forget everything, though it probably does make it clear that Megaman knows exactly what Hiro's talking about...and that he doesn't want Hiro to know.

Megaman is a terrible liar.]

[microbrobotics]

Why do you want to keep it secret so badly?

[megabytes]

[He just sobs. He's scared to answer - if he answers, if he acknowledges this, he makes it something real. Answering means admitting he can't "fix" this.]

I...I don't...

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro relents again, just leaning in to hold Megaman tighter. He doesn't want the navi to be this upset. He just wanted to know what was going on... ]

Either way, you're one of my best friends.